SDRL: seadrill Limited Announces Settlement agreement with Northern Ocean Ltd.
Hamilton, Bermuda, August 8, 2021 – seadrill Limited (“seadrill” or "the Company") (OSE:SDRL, OTCPK:SDRLF) announces that the Company has reached a settlement agreement with Northern Ocean Ltd. (“NOL”) predominantly with respect to balances outstanding from seadrill’s preparation of the West Mira and West Bollsta rigs. The settlement agreement closes all outstanding balances, claims and counter-claims between the companies and their respective subsidiaries by way of set-off as full and final settlement. Further, the settlement agreement sets out that seadrill will provide certain transition services to any prospective new managers in respect of NOL’s rigs and requires seadrill to restart bareboat lease payments for the West Bollsta rig from August 10, 2021, alongside seadrill’s continued operation of the rig on the Lundin contract.
The settlement agreement is subject to certain conditions, including, but not limited to, obtaining approval by the US bankruptcy court under seadrill’s Chapter 11 protection.
Grant Creed, Chief Financial Officer, commented “Conclusion of this uncertainty around claims and counterclaims with NOL is an important pre-requisite to seadrill being able to proceed with its Chapter 11 filing. Shareholders should note the Plan of Reorganization filed with the Court on July 24, 2021 leads to a substantial equitization of debt meaning existing shareholders receive virtually no recovery for their existing shares.”
About seadrill
seadrill is a leading offshore drilling contractor utilizing advanced technology to unlock oil and gas resources for clients across harsh and benign locations across the globe. seadrill’s high quality, technologically advanced fleet spans all asset classes allowing its experienced crews to conduct its operations from shallow to ultra-deep-water environments. The Company operates 24 rigs, which includes drillships, jack-ups and semi-submersibles.
seadrill is listed on the Oslo Børs and OTC Pink markets. For more information, visit https://www.seadrill.com/.
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
This news release includes forward looking statements. Such statements are generally not historical in nature, and specifically include statements about the Company's plans, strategies, business prospects, changes and trends in its business, the markets in which it operates and its restructuring efforts. These statements are made based upon management's current plans, expectations, assumptions and beliefs concerning future events impacting the Company and therefore involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this news release. Consequently, no forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. When considering these forward-looking statements, you should keep in mind the risks described from time to time in the Company's regulatory filings and periodical reporting. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which such statement is made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for the Company to predict all of these factors. Further, the Company cannot assess the impact of each such factor on its business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to be materially different from those contained in any forward looking statement.
This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.